The latest Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll included some questions asking New Jerseyans their opinions about the state’s nine living governors — Gov. Chris Christie and his eight predecessors. (Nine of the 55 who’ve served since the founding of the country, by the way.)

Gov. Tom Kean, who served most of the 1980s, is far and away the most popular — his net favorability is +37, now 20 years since he left office. No other governors are even close. Dick Codey (+14), Chris Christie (+14) and Brendan Byrne (+13) are grouped in second place, so to speak. For Codey, though, that’s a drop from his +34 from a Sept. 2006 survey.

Next comes Jim Florio, up 10 points to a +2, now edging out the governor who thwarted his re-election bid in 1993, Christie Whitman at -3. They’re followed by Donald DiFranceso (-8), a former Senate president who, like Codey, held the governor’s seat for about a year despite never having been elected to the job.

Jumping further down the chain, next comes Gov. Jon Corzine, who leaves office at a -24 favorability rating. (He was +16 in September 2006, his first year in office.) But Corzine is still not in the poll’s basement, which remains occupied by Gov. Jim McGreevey at -28 (down 6 points since 2006).